Donnie-Nice – Or Not
by Andrea O'Down
Summary: Donnie is sick; Leo brings him breakfast. He has to be careful, though, because a sick Donnie is incalculable.


_This was written as a secret santa-gift for a very good friend. :)_

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><p><strong><span>Donnie-Nice – Or Not<span>**

When the Turtles were sick, they all reacted differently.

Mikey was very quiet, just lying in his bed and waiting patiently until the sickness faded away. He was almost too quiet, to be honest. Leo remembered that sensei had checked on Mikey more often when they had been little and Mikey had been sick. Splinter had been really afraid something terrible might have happened to the littlest one because he had been so abnormally silent. But now they all knew that this silence was just Mikey's way of dealing with sickness.

Raph, of course, reacted with anger, throwing things around in his room if his state of health allowed it and yelling at anyone who came to help him or check on him. Except for sensei, that was. He said nearly nothing when sensei was around, probably being too afraid that a harsh word would slip from his lips before he could stop himself. This was the "funny" thing with Raph. He had no problem yelling at his brothers although they weren't to blame for him being sick, but yelling at sensei unjustifiably was a totally different matter.

Leo hated being sick, but he didn't want to let it show. So he stayed calm when being unwell. That only went for the outside, of course. On the inside he was yelling, "I hate being sick!" in an endless loop. But it stayed on the inside, always. What good would it do if he yelled it out loud? And the endless loop stopped as soon as he was feeling better. So that was okay.

Donnie, however, shared the bad character traits of his brothers. He was either too quiet or very, very angry. The thing was, with Donnie being sick, you never knew. He could go from complete calmness to utter rage in the blink of an eye.

And Leo had been unsuccessful to figure out what exactly caused Donnie's outburst. It couldn't be the sickness per se or he would be angry all the time. Maybe it was the frustration when his condition was too bad to even read and his high-performing brain kept poking him with new ideas so much that he couldn't do anything, but get angry. And there never was a clue when Donnie's anger would kick in.

So Leo braced himself for a rather unpleasant sick bed visit as he placed a steaming mug and a plate with a sandwich on the tray.

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><p>Carefully, Leo opened the door.<p>

"I bring you breakfast!" he announced before entering Donnie's room.

Just in case. Donnie _could_ be in a bad mood.

Saying that you came in peace and brought something to eat could make the difference between angry Raph-like Donnie and calm Mikey-like Donnie.

It was _important_, it was similar to waving the white flag.

He was greeted by a cough, a wave of stuffy air, and the smell of sweat – the atmosphere of sickness.

Leo walked over to the bed.

"How are you doing today?" he asked as he placed the tray on the mattress.

Donnie sat up, and Leo had to confess that he looked terrible. His eyes were red, and he was grey in the face. This was the brothers' equivalent to humans being green in the face. And Donnie showed a perfect example of it with a grey touch to his usually green skin.

"Splendid!" Donnie replied. "Don't you see?"

Leo suppressed a smile and sat down on the edge of the bed. When Donnie was able to joke, his condition couldn't be that bad, so staying here a little bit should be safe.

"Of course I do," Leo replied. "The fresh and rested look on your face, the healthy green of your skin, your attentive eyes."

He took the steaming mug from the tray and handed it to Donnie. "Totally splendid, I'd say."

"Haha," Donnie said sarcastically and took the mug, taking a testing sniff. "Tea? Ugh. I prefer coffee."

"But not when you're sick," Leo countered. "You do know that tea's better for you right now."

"That doesn't make it taste any better to me," Donnie said and took a sip, turning up his mouth as he gulped the tea.

"But it's good for you!"

"I know." Donnie took another sip. "Still doesn't make it taste any better."

"Well, in a few days you'll be back to normal and can drink coffee again." Leo gave a warm smile.

Donnie looked at his brother, but instead of at least trying to smile back, he answered with a huff.

"Huh?" Leo's eyes widened in surprise. "Doesn't this make you feel better?" He couldn't prevent his smile from turning into a mischievous grin. "'Cause that's what you always tell me when I'm sick."

Donnie gave another huff, but this time it ended in something that sounded a bit like a laugh.

"Now I know how you must feel when I tell you this," he confessed.

"But that doesn't make it any less true, huh?" Leo replied with a wink.

"I guess so." And this time, the sound Donnie made truly was a little laugh.

"Eat your sandwich," Leo said then. He placed a hand on Donnie's shoulder. "And then rest a bit."

"I will," Donnie replied.

Leo gave Donnie's shoulder a gentle squeeze before he got to his feet and turned around to leave the room.

"And Leo," Donnie said, causing Leo to stop and look back at his brother over his shoulder. "Thank you."

A warm smile appeared on Leo's face.

"You're welcome, Donnie," he replied. "That's what brothers are for."

After that, he left Donnie's room.

On his way to the dojo, Leo couldn't help, but wonder how different Donnie had been today, not Mikey-quiet or Raph-angry, but actually really nice.

That was new. So maybe Donnie had finally developed his own way of dealing with sickness.

And Leo smiled again as he thought that "Donnie-nice" would be the right name for it.

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><p>The next day, however, Leo had to reconsider this again when Donnie scared Mikey out of his room, chucking the book he has been unable to read because of his terrible headache after the youngest turtle.<p> 


End file.
